12 Best New YA Books of 2017

Raise your hand if you spent most of it with our heads buried in a few good books. Yeah, us, too. Hopefully 2017 is a much better year than 2016; but if the literary world is any sign, things are already shaping up to be kind of amazing.

What's coming to bookstores starting in January? Well, where do we start? We're finally getting our hands on the new Veronica Roth book, we’ll get to see what happens in our beloved Red Queen series, there’s a new memoir by comedian Clinton Kelly that should keep us cackling, and Defy the Stars looks like the exact sci-fi adventure we’ve been waiting for. All in all, we can't wait for that ball to drop. So before 2016 finally calls it quits, here’s a guide to the must-have selections we’ll be adding to our reading list in the year ahead.

Before 2016 finally calls it quits, here’s a guide to the must-have selections we’ll be adding to our reading list in the year ahead.

I Hate Everyone, Except You* by Clinton Kelly

Release Date: January 10, 2017

Clinton Kelly has been making us laugh on television for years, but in his new snarky collection of essays, Kelly dishes about everything from his early years in the '80s to his slightly less awkward, but in no way less hilarious adult years. Whether he’s regaling with stories of tossing his baby sister around (so she’d become a cheerleader!) or debating the merits of his favorite water parks, you’ll be cackling on every page.

We: A Manifesto for Women* by Gillian Anderson and Jennifer Nadel

Release date: March 7, 2017

Gillian Anderson is best known for her turns on The X-Files, The Fall, and Hannibal but it’s in this new manifesto that she really plans to make her biggest mark. She envisions a sisterhood of women who agree to support and encourage each other, rising up out of the mishegoss and changing the world for the better. Along with journalist Jennifer Nadel, Anderson questions whether asking “Can we have it all?” sets us up to fail — and whether it's better to ask “Is this it?” and strive to whatever you want, in whatever form it may be.

Carve the Mark* by Veronica Roth

Release date: January 17, 2017

YA superstar Veronica Roth is returning to bookshelves once again with what looks to be another smashing science-fiction success. On a planet where violence is the end-all, be-all, each of us develops a currentgift, a power meant to shape the future, which many people use to their advantage. Not Akos and Cyra, whose powers seem to only make them more vulnerable. Can they reclaim that vulnerability and use to change their world for the better? We’ll see in 2017.

The Hate U Give* by Angie Thomas

Release Date: February 28, 2017

Angie Thomas’s debut novel stems from the Black Lives Matter movement. In it, a 16-year-old girl named Starr Carter is stuck between the poor neighborhood she knows and the posh high school she’s started attending. When her best friend Khalil dies in a senseless shooting, she’s thrown into the national headlines and caught between the two worlds she thought she could straddle.

By Your Side* by Kasie West

Release date: January 31, 2017

Autumn Collins finds herself completely cut off from the world when she accidentally gets locked in her local library for an entire weekend. The only companions? Vending machine snacks, the stacks, and a guy named Dax Miller who she wants nothing to do with. But when it’s clear she won’t be getting out anytime soon, she hunkers down and gets to know the food, and Dax, a little bit more intimately. Perhaps there’s more to Dax that meets the eye? We can’t wait to find out this January.

Caraval* by Stephanie Garber

Release date: January 31, 2017

Stephanie Garber’s new tale looks to be an entirely fresh one. Sisters Scarlett and Tella live with a cruel father they deeply resent on an island cut off from the wider world. They’ve almost completely lost all hope that they’ll ever see Caraval, an intriguing interactive performance they’ve always dreamed of seeing. When an invitation to this year’s game finally arrives, a mysterious sailor helps Tells whisk Scarlett away to finally see the event – only to discover that Tella is at the center of it all. Will she survive this “performance,” or is it all a lot more real than they were led to believe?

Wires and Nerve, Volume 1* by Marissa Meyer

Release date: January 31, 2017

Marissa Meyer is debuting her first graphic novel, which follows Iko, the beloved android from The Lunar Chronicles. Meyer tells this brand new story of Iko fending off rogue packs of wolf-hybrid soldiers who threaten both Earth and Luna as she hunts down the pack’s leader. She enlists the help of a royal guard and encounters old friends (yes, Cinder and the rest of the Rampion crew pop up!), this looks to be a delight for fans both old and new.

The Upside of Unrequited* by Becky Albertalli

Release date: April 11, 2017

Cassie’s always telling her twin sister Molly to put herself out there but Molly just doesn’t feel ready for the sting of rejection, but when when Cassie falls head over heels for a new girl, suddenly Molly feels like she needs to finally take a leap into love too. Molly sets out to win the heart of her twin sister’s new girlfriend’s BFF, a cute hipster, just to get Cassie back. That is, if she can avoid her coworker Reid, a Renaissance Faire loving nerd she absolutely doesn’t have mutual feelings for. Or… does she? As Molly will learn, things can get complicated when your heart is on the line.

Defy the Stars* by Claudia Gray

Release date: April 4, 2017

Noemi Vidal is a teen soldier from the planet Genesis, a colony at war. With Earth’s mech armies constantly beating them down, the people of Genesis are being pushed to the brink. After an unexpected attack, Noemi meets Abel, a sophisticated mech prototype, who’s suddenly under Noemi’s total command. The pair team up to save the people of Genesis – and discover how human a mech can really be. We’ll have our eyes peeled for this sci-fi adventure come April.

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett* by Chelsea Sedoti

Release Date: January 3, 2017

The disappearance of the uber-popular Lizzie Lovett is the most fascinating thing to ever happen to Hawthorn’s sleepy little town, so naturally she can’t help but insert herself into the case. Her theory of the case is way too ridiculous to be taken seriously but the more she looks into the things… the more it all starts clicking into place. So Hawthorn dives head first into Lizzie’s life in an attempt to find the truth about what happened to her, and maybe to discover some things about herself.

King's Cage* by Victoria Aveyard

Release Date: February 7, 2017

The third in Victoria Aveyard’s highly acclaimed Red Queen series, this installment has us chomping at the bit to get our hands on it. When the Lightning Girl’s spark goes missing, things are not going so well for Mare Barrow, who’s now left a powerless and unable to lead the rebellion. Her mistakes haunt her – specifically the ones that left her in the power of a boy she once loved and whom she now despises. Cal is trying anything his can to free her, meanwhile Maven Calore is using his kingly status to desperately control his world while the band of newbloods and Reds continue to organize and expand. How will it all finally shake out? Will Cal and Mare ever find their way together – and finally tell admit their obvious feelings for each other? We can’t wait to see.